Welcome to Rebecca V Gallery, the newest kid on the Tacoma art block, a gallery that aims to show both high-brow and more commercial art and make patrons just as relaxed as they can. And it’s opening Saturday.

“We want a casual atmosphere, not intimidating as some galleries can be,” says gallery director Kelly Joseph. Fresh out of New York’s Chelsea art scene (where she managed Dillon Gallery, known for supporting up-and-coming talent), Joseph exudes casualness herself.

“Our goal is to tell people that art doesn’t have to be stuffy or scary, that you can walk in and take it home,” Joseph says.

For a commercial gallery, this is obviously a selling point. And Joseph, advising co-owners Tony Valenzuela, Deb Haller and Patrick Howe, has created a relaxing atmosphere. The gallery is one-half of the old Prosser Piano building, just down from Sixth Avenue’s Neighborhood Market.

With a hugely arching, exposed-beam ceiling that makes you feel like you’re underneath an upturned boat, the 2,400-square-foot space is large for a gallery. Wall studs and hanging dividers make natural boundaries for what would in a smaller space be a clutter of art: Rebecca V has taken on 13 artists to begin with (and more to come), each of whom is represented in the first group show. Downstairs are 10 artist studios.

In the other half is the new digs for Pairings Wine Bar, and that’s not a coincidence. Valenzuela owns the whole building, and when he sold the former Pairings locale, he invited his tenants to move the few doors down the street.

It seems a match made in heaven: great wine at art openings, art displayed at tastings. Both will keep the connecting door open during business hours, though Pairings’ grand reopening isn’t until later in the month.

So what is the art going to be?

“We want a broad range,” says Joseph. The gallery’s local and international artists lean heavily toward the figurative and landscape genres – such as Howe’s own misty Seattle-scapes – and some unassuming abstracts. But there are the ornate green/bronze glass vessels of Tacoman Diane Hansen; some painterly, open-shutter photographs from Paris/Tacoma artist Phillipe Masaud and some striking oils by Portland’s Martha Reisdorf, her thick squidges re-creating the blurred, surreal world of her impaired vision.

Two mixed-media Portland artists stand out: Lindsey Johnson, with a forceful, hard-edged superimposition of female torsos, and Molly Cliff-Hilts, her technique of mixing wax, powder pastels and acrylic with a blowtorch resulting in luminescent gold clouds with a thick, smooth surface.

The solo exhibition schedule begins in May, with Nicaraguan Marcio Diaz’s tangerine, Seurat-like landscapes. Joseph also has plans to have installations and new media for a tiny, enclosed viewing room.

In addition to being patron-friendly, Rebecca V also has a mission to be community-friendly. Future plans include a Tacoma schools juried exhibition and a national recycled art competition. They’ll help you buy the art, too, with flexible payment plans.

At the higher end, Joseph, who was responsible for getting Dillon gallery into Miami’s and New York’s Red Dot art fairs, has similar aspirations for Rebecca V. “It’s a great way to pioneer this market and put Tacoma on the map,” she explains.

Rebecca V will open with a reception Saturday night, at which Valenzuela’s 14-year-old daughter will have a surprise sprung on her: She doesn’t know her father has named it after her (Readers, don’t let the secret out).

The owners and Joseph herself are on a Tacoma art learning curve, they fully admit.

Says Valenzuela: “Our vision (is) for inclusion, open-mindedness and discovery.”

What: Rebecca V Gallery

When: Grand opening, 6-9 p.m. Saturday; regular hours, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays

Where: 3010 Sixth Ave., Tacoma Information: 253-572-9111 or www.rebeccavgallery.com